The only tool a man actually needed to build a log house was an axe. With an auger, an adze, a drawing knife, a froe and maul, a broadaxe, or saw, he could build it more efficiently. Tools and building techniques were passed down from generation to generation. One such technique enabled a man to raise the walls higher than he could lift a log by placing two logs at an angle against the wall to serve as a skid and using forked sticks or ropes to guide the logs into place.

Another technique was splitting logs by standing them vertically between scaffolding and sawing downward, lowering the scaffolding as the log was cut.